1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a telecommunications system for allowing a subscriber connected to the Internet via a dial-up connection to receive notification and caller identification information concerning an incoming telephone call. Further, the invention provides the subscriber with various disposition options for handling the incoming telephone call.
2. Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms which refer to various telecommunications services, components and techniques, as well as features relating to the present invention. Although some of these acronyms are known, use of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, acronyms will be defined as follows:
Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)
Central Office (CO)
Called Party Number (CDN)
Calling Party Number (CPN)
Call Processing Record (CPR)
Data and Reporting System (DRS)
Heartbeat Server (HS)
Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Internet Call Waiting Server (ICWS)
Internet Caller Identification (ICID)
Line Information Database (LIDB)
Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)
Local Routing Number (LRN)
Numbering Plan Area-Central Office Code (NPA-NXX)
Personal Computer (PC)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Registration Server (RS)
Service Control Point (SCP)
Service Switching Point (SSP)
Signaling System 7 (SS7)
Signaling Transfer Point (STP)
Terminating Attempt Trigger (TAT)
Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TACP)
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
3. Description of Background Information
In recent years, the number of households having Internet access has grown extraordinarily. In fact, having a home personal computer with Internet access is now commonplace. However, most households have only one telephone line which must be shared between a dial-up connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and voice communications via the telephone. This results in several problems, including missed telephone calls and disconnections from the ISP.
When a telephone line is occupied during an Internet session, telephone calls to that line are met with a busy signal. As a result, important calls are not able to be received by the called party until the line is unoccupied. Moreover, the caller has no way of knowing when the line will be free and must continually attempt the call until the party is reached. Additionally, Internet subscribers have no way of knowing who attempted to call them while they were on the Internet. If expecting a call, an Internet subscriber must wait for the call before connecting to the Internet, or risk missing the call. Further, Internet subscribers must deactivate their Call Waiting feature while they access the Internet, or risk undesirable disconnections when an incoming call is attempting to terminate to their line.
As a result, it would be desirable to be informed of an incoming telephone call while being connected to the Internet. It would also be desirable to know the name and number of the calling party, before deciding whether to abandon the Internet connection. It would further be desirable to have a variety of incoming call disposition options available to an Internet subscriber.
One attempt at solving these problems was presented by MCMULLIN, U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,128. MCMULLIN discloses a method and apparatus for permitting notification, identification, and control of incoming calls to a subscriber when the subscriber is connected to a Data Communications Service (DCS) via a dial-up modem over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
However, MCMULLIN does not provide a solution that takes advantage of the ubiquitous AIN environment. In fact, the system disclosed in MCMULLIN ignores the features of the AIN, instead relying upon a call forward busy/no answer number feature.
Specifically, MCMULLIN requires the subscriber to activate a call forward busy/no answer number feature which directs blocked calls or unanswered calls to a called party proxy. In circumstances where a subscriber has activated the call forward busy/no answer number feature and the subscriber is using their telephone link (e.g., engaged in data communications) and a second call is placed to the subscriber's line, the call is automatically routed to the proxy telephone link. This method is slow, requires unnecessary processing, and occupies additional resources. MCMULLIN also requires a dedicated communications channel between the central office and the DCS. This restriction unduly limits the subscriber's choice of Internet Service Provider (ISP). Given the substantial number of ISPs that exist, it would be impractical to have a dedicated channel to each ISP.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.